library 
OF  THE 

UKWOfcITY  OF  ILUIWI* 


ONSTANTINE  OF  FLEURY, -985-1014,  A.D, 


F.  M.  WARREN 


REPRINTED  FROM  THE 


TRANSACTIONS  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  ACADEMY  OF  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES, 
VOL.  XV,  JULY,  IQO9 


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C 1 5 7 w 


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mot' 


X.— Constantine  of  Fleury  (—985—1014). 

Among  the  many  letters  written  by  Gerbert  before  he  became 
Pope  Sylvester  II  are  three  addressed  to  a certain  Constantine,  sco- 
lasticus  at  Fleury  (St.  Benoit-sur-Loire),  and  afterwards  abbot  of 
St.  Mesmin,  to  the  West  of  Orleans.1  Another  letter  of  Gerbert’s 
to  the  monk  Bernard  emphasizes  his  friendship  for  the  scolasticus , 
and  his  high  opinion  of  his  intellectual  attainments,  particularly  his 
talent  for  music.2  And  this  friendship  is  again  affirmed  in  the  com- 
position of  the  treatise,  Libellus  de  Numerorum  Divisione , for  Con- 
stantine, a work  of  pure  affection,  the  preface  tells  us.3 

These  eulogies  lead  to  the  inevitable  conclusion  that,  in  Gerbert’s 
opinion  at  least,  Constantine  was  one  of  the  foremost  scholars  of 
the  day,  an  ardent  lover  of  the  authors  of  Latin  antiquity,  and  an 
authority  in  the  domain  of  music.  They  also  indicate  the  places 
where  Constantine  lived,  Fleury  and  St.  Mesmin,  during  the  closing 
years  of  the  tenth  century.  But  ot  his  past  life  not  a word,  nor 
yet  a hint  of  his  future  activity.  Further  information  regarding  this 
scolasticus  is,  however,  not  lacking. 

Andre  of  Fleury  who,  in  1041,  wrote  the  life  of  Gauzlin,  a bastard 
son  of  Hugh  Capet,  abbot  of  Fleury  from  1004  and  bishop  of 
Bourges  from  1013  to  his  death  in  1030,  knew  something  of  Con- 
stantine. He  tells  us  that  our  monk  had  been  brought  up  at  Fleury, 
that  it  was  Arnulf,  bishop  of  Orleans,  who  had  made  him  abbot  of 
St.  Mesmin,  and  that  while  still  at  Fleury  he  had  set  a poem  on 
St.  Benedict  to  music.  But  this  poem  was  sung  only  after  a lapse 

1 See  Lettres  de  Gerbert , edited  by  J.  Havet : Paris,  1889 ; letters  86, 
141,  191,  as  well  as  143  written  by  Constantine  to  Gerbert. 

2 Ergo  si  quisquam  vestrum  cura  talinm  rerum  permovetur,  vel  in 
musica  perdiscenda,  vel  in  his  quae  hunt  ex  organis,  quod  per  me  ad- 
implere  nequeo,  si  cognovero  certum  velle  domini  abbatis  P.,  cui  omnia 
debeo,  per  Constantinum  Eloriacensem  supplere  curabo.  Est  aenim  no- 
bilis  scolasticus,  adprime  eruditus,  michique  in  amicicia  conjunctissimus. 
Letter  92 

3 Vis  amici tiae  poene  impossibilia  redigit  ad  possibilia.  Nam  quomodo 
rationes  numerorum  abaci  explicare  contenderemus,  nisi  te  adhortante,  o 
mi  dulce  solamen  laborum  Const.  ? Op , cit .,  p.  238. — See  also  Richer, 
Historiarum  iii,  c.  54  (Societe  de  l’Histoire  de  Erance  series),  where  the 
Libellus  is  mentioned  as  intended  for  “ C.  grammaticum.” 


286 


F.  M.  Warren , 


of  years,  under  Gauzlin,  not  under  Abbo.1  And  much  earlier  than 
Andre’s  record,  back  in  the  previous  century,  before  the  death  of 
Louis,  king  of  France  (f  987),  and  therefore  about  the  time  of  Ger- 
bert’s  first  letter  to  his  absent  pupil,  a former  fellow-student  at 
Rheims  had  addressed  some  verses  to  Constantine.  In  obscure 
phrases  the  unknown  poetaster  expresses  his  sorrow  over  his  old  com- 
rade’s change  of  residence,  and  then  proceeds  to  praise  the  poetry 
he  used  to  write,  in  excellence  rivalling  the  lines  of  Sophocles.  2 

Piecing  out  the  hints  afforded  by  this  effusion  with  the  statements 
made  by  Andre  of  Fleury,  we  can  construct  an  outline  of  Constantine’s 
youth.  He  had  been  nurtured  by  the  monks  at  Fleury,  had  won 
their  admiration  as  a student  of  promise,  had  been  sent  by  them 
to  Gerbert’s  school,  then  at  the  height  of  its  prosperity,  had  there 
attained  proficiency  in  music,  one  of  the  Seven  Arts  for  which 
Gerbert  was  famous,  had  composed  verse  of  considerable  merit,  and 
had  returned  to  Fleury  by  the  end  of  986.  He  was  now  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  years  old,  assuming  that  Gerbert’s  words  of  commen- 
dation indicate  a man  of  some  maturity. 

But  what  of  Constantine’s  surroundings  at  Fleury  ? Gerbert’s  first 
letter,  an  answer  to  one  received  from  Constantine,  more  than 
intimates  that  there  was  dissension  in  the  abbey.  The  scolasticus 
was  evidently  in  open  revolt  against  his  superior,  Abbot  Oilbodus, 
whom  Gerbert  does  not  call  by  name  but  whom  he  stigmatizes  as 
“ pervasor.”  The  date  of  this  epithet  is  July  or  August,  986,  ac- 
cording to  Havet,3  who  is  undoubtedly  correct  in  his  surmise.  For 

1 His  etenim  diebus,  historia  patris  Benedicti  adventus,  quam  Constan- 
tinus,  illius  loci  nutritius,  atque  abbatiae  Miciacensis  honore  ab  Arnulfo, 
Aurelianensium  presule  donatus,  musicae  artis  dictaverat  pneumatibus, 
suasu  Helgaudi  precentoris,  permissuque  Gauzlini  abbatis,  Floriacensi  loco 
primo  insonuit. — See  Vita  Gauzlini  in  Neues  Archiv , vol.  iii,  p.  352. — The 
precentor  Helgaud  has  come  down  to  posterity  as  the  biographer  of 
Robert  the  Pious.  Constantine  may  have  written  the  poem  as  well  as 
composed  the  music.  But  it  should  be  said  that  his  contemporary  at 
Fleury,  Aimoin,  author  of  a life  of  Abbot  Abbo  (988-1004),  closes  another 
work,  the  Historia  Francorum , with  a poem  in  hexameters  on  the  trans- 
lation to  France  of  St.  Benedict’s  remains.  See  Migne,  Patrologia  Latina , 
vol.  139,  col.  797-802. 

2 Eia  cara  chelis,  protelans  vocibus  aptis, 

Carmina  pange  viro  morum  probitate  colendo, 

Solo  Soffocleo  quae  sint  condigna  coturno. 

Neues  Archiv , vol.  ii,  pp.  222—227.  Lines  62—64  contain  the  quotation 
a plagiarism  from  Virgil. 

3 Letter  86. 


Constantine  of  Fleury. 


287 


Amalbert,  Oi'lbodus’  predecessor,  had  died  in  April,  985,  and  the 
installation  of  a new  abbot  must  have  followed  shortly  afterward, 
certainly  within  a year.  A letter  of  Gerbert  to  Mai'eul  of  Cluny, 
which  is  dated  by  Havet  in  February,  986,  shows  Oi'lbodus  in  pos- 
session.1 Why  there  was  opposition  to  him  we  do  not  know.  King 
Lothaire  may  have  forced  him  on  the  community,  a somewhat  im- 
probable conjecture,  resting  only  on  the  epithet  quoted  above.2  Or 
Constantine,  who  had  just  arrived  from  Rheims,  conscious  of  his 
intellectual  attainments  and  relying  on  Gerbert’s  friendship,  may 
have  aspired  to  the  pastorate  in  vain.  What  is  certain  is  that 
Constantihe  was  hostile  to  Oi'lbodus,  that  Gerbert  battled  valiantly 
for  him,3  or  for  his  faction,  and  that  both  master  and  pupil  did  not 
refrain  from  showing  their  joy  when  the  “ pervasor  ” departed  this 
mundane  existence.4  An  untimely  rejoicing  it  proved,  for  the  passing 
of  Oi'lbodus  did  not  profit  Constantine.  His  partisans  were  clearly 
in  the  minority,  and  Abbo,  the  most  talented  of  the  older  friars,  a 
staunch  supporter  of  Oi'lbodus,  who  had  been  sent  by  him  early 
in  986  to  instruct  the  monks  of  Ramsey,  in  England,  at  the  request 
of  Archbishop  Oswald,  then  recalled  after  a two  years’  mission  by 
his  father  superior,  was  elected  to  the  abbacy  towards  the  end 
of  988. 5 

Some  inferences  may  be  allowed  at  this  point.  Abbo  must  have 
been  the  head  of  the  Fleury  school  before  he  went  to  England, 
and  quite  likely  Constantine’s  first  teacher.  But  Gerbert  calls  Con- 
stantine scolasticus.  Therefore  he  was  Abbo’s  substitute  for  the  time 
being.  Filled  with  zeal  for  the  new  learning  he  had  acquired  at 
Rheims,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  he  gave  a direction  to  the 
instruction  at  Fleury  which  did  not  meet  with  Oi'lbodus’  approval. 
Abbo,  an  erudite  man  in  his  way,  and  a renowned  educator,  based 
his  courses  on  the  Church  Fathers  and  did  not  admit  to  his  curric- 
ulum Cicero,  Virgil  and  the  lyric  poets  of  pagan  Rome.6  The 


1 Letter  69. 

2 See  Lettres  de  Gerbert , p.  65,  n.  5. 

3 Lettres  de  Gerbert , nos.  80,  87,  88,  95. 

4 Op.  cit. , letters  142,  148. 

5 Vita  S.  Abbonis , by  Aimoin  of  Fleury  inMigne,  Patrologia  Latina , vol.  139, 
col.  590-593.  Cf.  F.  Lot,  titudes  sur  le  regne  de  Hugues  Capet  (in  the 
Bibliotheque  de  l’Ecole  des  Hautes  Etudes  series,  no.  137),  p.  13,  n.  5. 

6 See  Ch.  Pfister’s  interesting  comparison  of  the  monkish  idea  of  edu- 
cation at  this  time  with  the  tendencies  of  the  bishops’  schools,  in  his 
Etudes  sur  le  regne  de  Robert  le  Pieux  (Bibliotheque  de  l’Ecole  des  Hautes 
Etudes  series,  n.  64),  pp.  2 ff. 


288 


F.  M.  Warren, 


urgent  summons  which  hastened  Abbo’s  return  from  Ramsey  shows 
that  his  presence  was  imperatively  demanded  by  the  authorities  at 
Fleury.  Oilbodus  evidently  felt  that  his  strength  was  declining. 
The  protagonists  of  the  new  education  at  Fleury  were  also  his 
personal  opponents.  He  wished  to  make  sure  of  the  succession  to 
the  pastoral  office,  and  he  did  so,  but  not  by  winning  over  the 
malcontents.  Abbo’s  biographer  admits  that  the  election  was  not 
unanimous.  Some  friars  objected,  “ as  is  wont  to  happen  in  such 
cases,”1  and  among  these  objectors  we  can  hardly  fail  to  find  Con- 
stantine. 

The  subsequent  relations  of  our  monk  to  Fleury  escape  us. 
Aimoin  mentions  a “ Constantinum  presbyterum,”  who  was  to 
accompany  Bernard  of  Beaulieu  on  a pilgrimage  to  Rome,  late  in 
989  or  in  990,  but  he  is  almost  certainly  not  the  old  scolasticus .2 
The  silence  of  this  writer  must  have  been  intentional.  He 
belonged  to  the  dominant  party,  whose  adherents  seem  to  have 
decided  on  the  elimination  of  Constantine.  The  testimony  of  Andre 
of  Fleury,  that  Constantine’s  music  for  the  poem  on  St.  Benedict 
was  not  sung  until  Gauzlin  had  succeeded  to  Abbo,  indicates  the 
purpose  on  the  part  of  the  Fleury  officials  to  ignore  their  brilliant 
subordinate.  If  such  was  their  intention  is  was  thoroughly  executed. 
When  Constantine  appears  again  in  the  records  of  the  day  it  is  no 
longer  as  a friar  at  Fleury,  but  as  the  abbot  of  St.  Mesmin,  a 
foundation  not  many  miles  away  from  his  earlier  station.  Unfortun- 
ately the  first  document  which  shows  this  transfer  and  promotion 
is  a letter  of  Gerbert,  written  as  late  as  997, 3 and  which  is  wholly 
devoted  to  its  author’s  own  troubles  at  Rheims.  It  does  not  allude 
to  Constantine’s  affairs,  and  we  would  be  entirely  at  loss  to  know 
how  he  had  secured  his  abbacy,  did  not  we  not  possess  Andre  of 
Fleury’s  statement,  already  cited,  that  he  had  been  appointed  to 
the  position  by  Arnulf  of  Orleans.  The  ecclesiastical  annals  of  the 
nineties  may  perhaps  furnish  a clue  to  this  bishop’s  benevolent 
intervention. 

In  June,  991,  a council  of  prelates  had  convened  at  Verzy,  near 
Rheims,  to  pass  on  the  conduct  of  Arnulf,  archbishop  of  Rheims, 


1 Migne,  loc.  cit .,  col.  593. 

2 Migne,  loc.  cit .,  col.  598.  Aimoin  speaks  of  a u Constantines  presbyter  ” 
— probably  the  same  monk — who  was  present  at  the  relation  of  a miracle, 
apparently  after  Abbo’s  death  (*j*  1004).  See  Miracles  de  St.  Benoit  (in  the 
Societe  de  l’Histoire  de  Trance  series),  iii,  c.  3 (p.  132). 

3 Op.  cit .,  letter  191.  Cf.  T.  Tot,  Etudes  sur  le  regne  de  Hugues  Capet , 
pp.  272-276. 


Constantine  of  Fleury. 


289 


in  reference  to  the  kings  of  France.  The  bishops  who  took  part 
in  this  council  finally  united  in  condemning  Arnulf.  Among  them 
was  Arnulf  of  Orleans.  But  of  the  abbots  at  Verzy,  two  in 
particular  stood  out  against  the  decision  of  the  bishops,  and  one 
of  these  two  was  Abbo  of  Fleury.  There  seems  to  be  no  doubt 
that  on  this  occasion  Abbo  was  solely  actuated  by  a desire  to 
strengthen  the  power  of  the  Pope  in  matters  pertaining  to  church 
government.  Yet  the  practical  result  of  his  attitude  was  to  increase 
the  friction  between  him  and  the  bishop  of  Orleans,  in  the  other 
party.  For  some  years  the  community  of  Fleury  and  the  bishop 
of  Orleans  had  been  at  loggerheads  about  certain  properties.  Under 
Oi'lbodus  a dispute  had  arisen  over  the  revenue  of  a vineyard  near 
Orleans.1  Later,  perhaps  before  the  council  of  Verzy,  but  certainly 
not  by  many  months,  as  Abbo  himself  was  on  the  way  to  Tours 
to  celebrate  St.  Martin’s  festival,  he  was  attacked  by  the  bishop’s 
men  and  lost  some  of  his  retinue  in  the  fight.2  To  compose  this 
difficulty  the  authority  of  the  kings  of  France  was  needed.3  On 
the  other  hand,  in  992  or  993,  an  outbreak  of  monks  occurred  at 
a council  held  at  St.  Denis,  an  outbreak  which  Arnulf  accused 
Abbo  of  fomenting.  So  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  no  love  was  lost 
between  these  neighbors,  dignitaries  of  the  Church.4 

Now  when  we  take  into  consideration  that  the  condemnation  of 
Arnulf  of  Rheims  by  the  bishops  assembled  at  Verzy  led  to  the 
elevation  of  Gerbert  to  the  archbishopric — an  elevation  which  the 
papal  party  claimed  to  be  illegal — we  readily  understand  how  the 
private  quarrels  of  Abbo  and  Arnulf  of  Orleans  might  affect  the 
career  of  a friend  of  Gerbert,  who  was  under  Abbo’s  rule,  and  who 
objected  to  it.  And  we  might  fairly  assume  that  the  transfer  of 
Constantine  from  Fleury  to  St.  Mesmin  was  a direct  result  of  all 
this  bickering.  The  promotion  may  have  followed  at  once  on  the 
council  of  Verzy,  and  Constantine  may  have  become  firmly  estab- 
lished in  his  new  office  by  the  end  of  992. 

How  long  was  he  allowed  to  exercise  his  prerogatives  in  peace  ? 
We  do  not  know.  Gerbert’s  letter  of  997  asks  for  sympathy.  It 
does  not  condole.  But  this  letter  was  occasioned  by  a disquieting 
trip  of  Abbo  to  Rome,  whence  we  may  conclude  that  not  only 
Gerbert,  but  Constantine  as  well,  was  kept  on  the  alert  by  the 


1 Miracles  de  St.  Benoit , ii,  C.  19  (p.  124). 

2 Vita  S.  Abbonis , by  Aimoin,  loc.  cit.,  col.  394. 

3 Recueil  des  historiens  des  Gaules , etc.,  vol.  x,  p.  561  (diploma  of  993). 

4 See  F.  Lot,  op.  cit .,  p.  184,  n.  1. 

Trans.  Conn.  Acad.,  Vol.  XV. 


19 


July,  1909. 


290 


F.  M.  Warren, 


persistent  hostility  of  that  determined  monk.  For  when  the  curtain 
rises  again  on  the  life  of  the  ex- scolasticus , in  the  year  1001,  it 
reveals  to  us  the  presence  of  a rival  abbot  at  St.  Mesmin,  who  had 
probably  been  put  forward  by  the  redoubtable  Abbo.  and  who  was 
certainly  upheld  by  king  Robert,  ever  under  the  influence  of  the 
monastic  orders.1  After  a few  brief  years  of  comparative  quiet, 
during  which  the  harried  Constantine  may  have  found  solace  and 
relaxation  in  those  authors  of  pagan  antiquity  whose  very  names 
were  anathema  at  Fleury,  the  unfortunate  friend  of  the  great  teacher 
and  Pope  is  once  more  in  subjection  to  his  enemies.  But  this  time 
he  rouses  himself  to  a more  vigorous  and  a more  effectual  resis- 
tance. A letter,  addressed  by  Abbo  to  the  friars  at  St.  Mesmin,. 
and  to  Constantine  “ decano,”  defends  Abbot  Robert  against  the 
charges  of  the  brethren,  who  had  driven  him  and  a favorite  of  his 
away  from  the  abbey,  and  reproaches  them  for  having  slandered 
Robert  to  Foulques,  bishop  of  Orleans.2  Foulques  had  become 
bishop  in  1003.  Abbo  was  killed  in  1004.  The  date  of  the  letter 
and  the  revolt,  which  is  its  burden,  can  therefore  be  fixed  within 
definite  time  limits. 

For  good  or  for  ill  then  Constantine  may  be  located  at  St.  Mesmin 
from  about  992  to  1004.  Robert  was  restored  to  his  abbey,  and 
we  may  suppose  that  his  return  preluded  by  only  a few  months 
the  departure  of  Constantine,  whom  he  had  supplanted  but  not 
overcome.3  For  another  migration  must  have  seemed  advisable  to 
the  luckless  “ decanus,”  and  some  friendly  influence  must  have  soon 
opened  the  way  for  it.  At  St.  Mesmin  he  had  won  the  goodwill  of 
a man  who  was  respected  for  his  learning  and  admired  for  his 


1 See  the  charter  by  king  Robert  in  favor  of  the  monks  of  St.  Mesmin 
and  their  abbot,  Robert,  given  under  date  of  April,  1001.  Recueil  des 
historiens  des  Gaules , etc.,  vol.  x,  p.  579. 

2 Migne,  op.  cit .,  vol.  139,  col.  436—438. 

3 This  Robert  is  the  so-called  Robert  of  Blois,  who  succeeded  a monk 
of  Fleury  as  abbot  of  St.  Florent,  near  Saumur,  as  early  as  988  perhaps, 
certainly  before  994.  He  had  united  this  charge  with  the  abbacy  of 
St.  Mesmin  by  1001 — as  we  have  seen — and  finished  his  life  at  this  latter 
post,  dying  in  1011.  Chroniques  des  eglises  d’ Anjou  (in  the  Societe  de 
l’Histoire  de  France  series),  pp.  187—199 ; Gallia  Christiana , vol.  xiv, 
p.  625,  and  vol.  viii,  pp.  1531  ff. — He  may  be  the  Robert  of  St.  Mesmin 
whom  Gerbert  denounces  so  bitterly  in  988  (letter  136),  have  gone  from 

there  to  St.  Florent  and  afterwards  returned  to  St.  Mesmin  (F.  Lot,  A 

Derniers  Carolingiens , p.  232,  n.  4).  In  this  case  he  would  be  an  old 
enemy  of  Gerbert  and  his  friends. 


Constantine  of  Fleury. 


291 


energy  ^ the  monk  Letaldus.1  An  old  friend  of  Abbo,  as  the  latter’s 
correspondence  shows,2  Letaldus  could  still  discern  some  virtues  in 
Bishop  Arnulf  of  Orleans.3  He  had  joined  in  the  expulsion  of 
Robert  from  St.  Mesmin,  and  had  been  taken  to  task  for  it  by 
Abbo,  who  even  accused  him  of  heading  the  revolution.  On  Robert’s 
return  he  too  left  St.  Mesmin  and  journeyed  to  the  abbey  of  La 
Couture,  near  Le  Mans,  reaching  it  while  Gosbert  (f  1007)  was  still 
its  abbot.4 5  His . departure  must  have  been  preceded  by  Constantine’s 
or  shortly  followed  by  it,  for  the  next  reference  to  Constantine 
which  the  documents  contain  is  made  by  Letaldus  himself.  At 
a date  unknown  to  us,  the  latter  priest  sends  to  the  monks  of  the 
abbey  of  Nouaille,  near  Poitiers,  and  to  their  abbot,  Constantine, 
an  account  of  miracles  which  were  performed  by  the  relics  of 
St.  Junian,  the  first  abbot  of  Nouaille,  at  a council  held  in  the 
abbey  of  Charroux.6 

In  distant  Nouaille  the  old  scolasticus  of  Fleury  finds  final  refuge 
from  monastic  quarrels  and  ecclesiastical  vengeance.  Perhaps  it 
was  the  last  efforts  of  the  dogged,  uncompromising  Abbo  which  had 
driven  him  far  away  from  his  fatherland,  to  which  he  had  clung 
through  so  many  bitter  years  of  strife  and  oppression.  Should  this 
conjecture  prove  true  he  would  have  reached  Nouaille  by  the  end 
of  1004.  A gentle  soul  he  may  have  been,  certainly  not  a purpose- 
ful one,  for  he  had  fallen  before  every  onslaught.  Yet  he  clearly 
possessed  the  faculty  of  winning  devoted  friends,  first  Gerbert  and 
his  comrades  at  Rheims,  afterwards  Letaldus.  Perhaps  his  tempera- 
ment was  preeminently  sympathetic.  Undoubtedly  it  was  emotional, 
for  he  was  both  a poet  and  a musician.  And  this  artistic  tempera- 
ment may  have  been  the  real  cause  of  his  trials,  his  defeats,  and 
also  the  reason  for  the  good  fortunes  which  retrieved  his  successive 
disgraces.  Some  stronger  will  than  his  stood  ever  ready  to  rescue 
him  from  his  enemies.  As  an  administrator  he  probably  was  a 
failure.  Even  in  the  congenial  surroundings  of  Nouaille  he  could 
not  cope  with  the  situation,  and  the  intervention  of  Odilo  of  Cluny 
eventually  became  necessary  to  reform  the  community.6  Still  our 


1 B.  Haureau,  Histoire  litter  air e du  Maine , vol.  vii,  pp.  188—200 ; Migne, 
op.  cit .,  vol.  137,  col.  781  ff. 

2 Migne,  op.  cit.,  vol.  139,  col.  438,  439. 

3 Letaldus,  De  Miraculis  S.  Maximini,  in  Migne,  op.  cit.,  vol.  137,  col.  816. 

4 Gallia  Christiana,  vol.  xiv,  p.  470. 

5 Migne,  op.  cit.,  vol.  137-,  col.  823. 

G Gallia  Christiana , vol.  ii,  p.  1240.  Odilo’s  mission  may  have  been  per- 
formed in  1011. 


292 


3 0112  072462218 


F.  M.  Warren,  Constantine  of  Fleury. 


judgment  of  his  character  might  be  different  did  we  control  all  the 
facts.  The  slight  basis  for  our  inferences  renders  them  inconclusive. 

Besides  Letaldus’  narrative  of  the  wonders  worked  by  St.  Junian’s 
relics  and  Odilo’s  disciplinary  visit  to  Nouaille,  the  annals  of  the 
day  furnish  no  hints  regarding  Constantine’s  last  incumbency.  Their 
silence  may  point  to  the  calm  which  follows  the  storm.  The  gener- 
ation of  embittered  adversaries,  who  made  a shuttlecock  of  his 
career,  had  passed  away  with  Arnulf  and  Abbo.  Let  us  hope  that 
the  victim  of  their  rivalries  was  allowed  to  exercise  the  duties  of 
his  new  charge  in  peace.  But  one  more  mention  of  him  has 
reached  us,  the  note  which  records  his  death,  in  the  year  1014, 
after  a decade  or  less  of  pastorate  at  Nouaille.  And  this  note, 
which  registers  the  j-ather  unfavorable  opinion  of  his  contemporaries 
as  to  his  general  ability,  shows  that  the  poet  of  the  school  of  Rheims 
maintained  to  the  end  his  reputation  as  a musician.1 

1 Anno  MXIY.  Obiit  Constantinns,  abbas  S.  Juniani  Nobiliaci,  cui 
temporaneus  extitit  Letandns,  Abbo  et  alii  multi ; sed  inter  alios  prae- 
cipnns  musicus  et  cantor.  Huic  Constantino  successit  Imo.  Chronicle  of 
St.  Maixent,  in  Recueil  des  historiens  des  Gaules  etc.,  vol.  x,  p.  232. — The 
text  reads  u Abba,”  which  I change  to  “ Abbo  ” for  obvious  reasons. 
Letaldus  was  never  abbot,  though  a Letaldus  had  been  abbot  of  St.  Mes- 
min  in  930. 


Yale  University. 


F.  M.  Warren. 


